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Iraqi Premier League
|confed = AFC (Asia) |founded = 18 August 1974 |teams = 20 (from 2014–15) |relegation = Iraq Division One |levels = 1 |domest_cup = Iraq FA Cup Al-Muthabara Cup |confed_cup = AFC Champions League AFC Cup |champions = Al-Zawraa (14th title) |season = 2017–18 |website = http://www.iraq-football.net/isl.html |current = 2018–19 |image = |most successful club = Al Zawraa (13 titles) |Sponsor = Fuchs Petrolub |TV = Al-Kass Sports Channel Al-Iraqiya Sports Channel }}The Iraqi Premier League (Arabic: دوري النخبة العراقي, Dawri Al-Nokhba) is the highest league in the league system of Iraqi football and currently contains the top 20 Iraqi football clubs. It was founded in 1974 and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association. The Iraqi Premier League is the top tier of an extensive pyramid-like structure, operating on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraq Division One in which three teams get relegated and three teams get promoted each season. Seasons run from September to May with the 20 teams playing 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season. It is currently sponsored by Fuchs and thus officially known as the Fuchs Premier League. The league was formed in 1974 when the Iraq Football Association (IFA) replaced the League of the Institutes (a league for institutes teams) with the Iraqi Premier League (the first nationwide league of clubs in Iraq). Of the 73 teams to have competed since the inception of the league in 1974, 11 have won the title: Al-Zawraa (13), Al-Shorta (5), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (5), Al-Talaba (5), Erbil (4), Al-Rasheed (3), Naft Al-Wasat (1), Duhok (1), Al-Jaish (1), Salahaddin (1) and Al-Minaa (1). The current champions are Al-Zawraa, who won the title in 2015–16. League of the Institutes Prior to 1974, the league contained only Baghdad based teams. The league was named League of the Institutes and began its first season in 1962. During its 11 years, the Baghdad league was dominated by the Al-Shorta club as it won over half of the championships. Current competition Since the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime, the Iraqi league has made some dramatic changes. The league now starts in October and ends in July. Unlike the upper division of most countries' football leagues, Iraq's first league are split into 3 groups as planned in the beginning of the season. But by February 15, 2007, the league split the Baghdad group into two groups since teams could not coordinate games due to violence in the capital. In the first postwar year, the league split 28 teams into 4 groups of seven, based on region: North, South, and 2 Baghdad groups. In the 2006 - 2007 season, the league shrunk to 4 groups with a total of 23 teams. The top 4 teams from each group moves on to the next round, while the last team of each group is relegated to the Iraq's 2nd division league (in the 2004-05 season, each group was forced to relegate 3 teams because the league had too many teams (35)). The 12 advancing teams are then split into 4 groups of 3, where each team plays the other twice, once home and once away. The first team in each of the 4 groups advances to the next round (the semi-finals.) Each of the 4 remaining teams is then paired with another team, where they will play a home and away match. The 2 winners advance to the championship for a single Baghdad venue match, while the two losing teams play for 3rd place. The two finalist teams also advance to play in the AFC Cup, while the third place team qualifies to the Arab Champions League. Clubs for 2016–17 season The following 20 clubs are competing in the Iraqi Premier League during the 2016–17 season. a: Founding member of the Iraqi Premier League b: Never been relegated from the Iraqi Premier League note 1 Overall positions approximated based on positions in the groups. note 2 Not including the 1992–93 season when the club withdrew from the league after the first half of the season and had their results adopted by Al-Nasiriya who played the second half of the season. List of champions |valign="top"| |valign="top"| |valign="top"| |} Most successful clubs "Baghdad's Big Four" dominance External links *RSSSF *Goalzz Category:Leagues Category:AFC first leagues Category:Competitions